Australia and their struggles against wrist spin

Kishore V Nath24 Sep 2017, 12:09 AM

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Over the years, Australian teams that have visited the sub-continent have failed to pile on the runs that they usually do back home Down Under. Irrespective of the format they play, the struggle to get going, especially against wrist-spin, is quite evident and the recent series against India is the latest case in point.

So let's read on and find out a few reasons as to why they struggle.

No confidence in their defence

Most Australian batsmen feel that the only way to be successful against spin is to be aggressive and that primarily comes from the fact that they don't trust their defence against good balls. They could probably take a leaf out of Indian batsmen's books as to how to defend good balls and maximize scoring opportunities off the loose deliveries.

Lack of feet movement

Any coach would advise you to use your feet against spin bowling especially against wrist spin as they tend to get more purchase off the wicket than finger spinners. Barring Australian captain Steven Smith, no other batsman in the current ODI series against India has come down the track.

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Steve Smith is the only Australian who uses his feet against the spinners

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The idea of coming down the track is basically to disturb the lengths that the spinners are bowling. Batsmen like Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and Matthew Wade are more comfortable playing to square leg and mid-wicket than coming down the track and hitting over the bowler's head. So, the bowler already knows what the batsman is trying to do and hence it becomes easy for him.

Aggression is not only hitting fours and sixes

Most Australian batsmen look to hit the ball for fours and sixes or go blob, blob. There isn't too much in between, which is a necessity while playing spin in sub-continent conditions. A spinner feels agitated when he is milked for 5 or 6 singles in an over rather than hit for two boundaries because he might feel that he could get the batsman out when he is chancing his arm.

What makes matters worse for the Aussies is that India are not even playing their premier spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in this series. At the moment, Australia's dependency on Smith is too much and the skipper is starting to feel the pressure. He would need a strong supporting act pretty soon, else a whitewash is on the cards.